Never Worried
by ChukFolchart
Summary: Oneshot.  Hiro/Shuichi/Eiri!bestfriendvsboyfriend, Eirichi, Hiro/Shuichi!Friendship, Hiro/Eiri!foreshadowing friendship.  Shuichi got in an accident, but now he's okay.  Right?


**GRAVITATION! I've wanted to do something with this show since I was introduced to it so… yeah, whatever comes of this, comes of this! I know the idea isn't exactly unused… like in ANY fandom… but yeah. I haven't watched the show in a while and I don't like to meditate when others are awake and present. **

**Disclaimer: I do not own Gravitation or the characters. I make no profit from these stories. **

Shuichi stretched, sitting up on the couch. An unusually good night's sleep, considering his bed. Humming to himself, he hopped up and heading for the bathroom Eiri allowed him to use. Well, maybe he _was _allowed to use Eiri's bathroom… it just seemed the only times he could get away with that without the older man getting irritable was when he'd just happened to have woken up in the _bedroom_.

After more or less making himself decent- after all who would see him today? Hiroshi wouldn't care if he showed up for practice in his pajamas- he went to pop his head in Eiri's room, maybe steal a good-bye kiss whether it was well received or not. The bed was empty.

"Yuki?" he called, at Eiri's bathroom. No response. Though it may have meant the man was in one of his moods, Shuichi was pretty sure this time it was because he'd fallen asleep in his study, writing.

The boy hopped to said room and paused outside the door. He thought of previous times he'd woken the blonde up after such a night… and frowned. He'd just let Eiri sleep _that _mood off. No reason to waste his own good feelings this morning, right?

Eiri moaned, pulling his hair out of his face. Why was the phone ringing so early? Making a firm agreement with himself not to answer, he forced himself into a sitting position. His eyes went to the digital clock on his desk. Hmm… 11:45... Well, he still wouldn't answer it.

Mindlessly, he clicked his computer mouse, recovering his typing from the screensaver. As usual, when he'd gotten into his writing frenzy, he'd fallen asleep so directly after the climax he could have ended the book there and called it a cliffhanger. But he didn't like writing sequels, much less the epic saga he knew his fans would expect if he did such a thing. He knew his readers pretty well by now. He could only barely write anything that _he _liked anymore, because he and his editor spent so much time changing it for his fans.

Though his fingers hovered over the keys, mind trying futilely to return to his main character's point of view, he only found his eyes drifting back to his clock. So late in the day….

_Riiiing. Riiiiing._

Giving up, he saved his work and turned off the monitor. He couldn't rest long, because his deadline was approaching, but taking a break for breakfast shouldn't kill him.

The milk in the fridge was sour, evidence of his comatose writing habits and Shuichi's lack of attention in general. Rather than waste time cooking, he took out a microwave dinner. It was nearly lunch time anyway, and more than likely this would be his only meal for the day.

_Riiiing. Riiiing. Riiing._

As he watched the food revolve, trying to block out the persistent ring, he found his thoughts on his lover. Yes, he wasn't the most thoughtful man, but he did know their living routine. Something was off. As a general rule, Shuichi didn't leave the house without popping that head of soft pink hair into whatever Eiri was doing.

Of course, he knew that was no reason to be worried. Shuichi leaving the house silently for once didn't mean anything had happened. Perhaps that Nakano fellow had phoned him in the early hours of the morning, and Shuichi had slipped out to help him with some emergency. He could see that.

Eiri didn't realize how deep into his meditation he was, until the microwave beeped and the phone restarted its ring at the exact same time, startling him more than he would have cared admit to anyone. Mumbling under his breath, he took out his meal and took a few bites off the top. Though he hadn't had dinner the previous night, he wasn't very hungry. And it wasn't like Shuichi had never left without telling him before, that would have been ridiculous…

But usually, he called with an explanation by now, right? Heck, he couldn't remember the last time Shuichi had waited longer than ten thirty to check up on him.

_Riiiiiing… riiiiing… RIIIIIIIINNNNG!_

And then it clicked. His mind drifted back to the time on his desk clock- _eleven forty-five. _

Swearing, he almost tripped over his own feet on the way back to his study. He swiped the phone from beside his keyboard and answered.

"Shuichi." Had he not been in such a rush to catch it, he probably would have thought better than to say his name like he'd been waiting for the call. It'd already taken a great deal of his concentration to keep his voice from sounding too fast, or lord forbid, worried- which he hadn't been, not at all.

"Oh my- Yuki-san? Thank God…" the voice that replied was so much younger than Shuichi's, it threw him for a moment. He checked his caller ID. There was no unknown number- it was the right name, spelled out right there. _Shindou Shuichi_. He thought for a moment, then grunted, settling back in his desk chair. He didn't know why this kid had Shuichi's phone, but it was probably some demented fan.

His finger itched for the End button. _If it was _anyone _but Shindou,_ he thought crossly, then flinched at how lovey that sounded, even in his own head.

"Yuki-san? Yuki-san? Are you there?" the kid again.

"Yeah, yeah. Who is this?" he mumbled, fiddling with a pencil by his computer. There was a pause, and some rough speech in the background.

"Yuki." This voice wasn't Shuichi's either, but Eiri tried not to lose his temper and focus. At least this voice sounded blandly familiar…

Suddenly, he remembered very clearly the last time someone had spoken to him like that. The long, blood-red hair and protective eyes. Stupid enough to challenge him, yet not stupid at all because it had been about Shuichi.

"Nakano Hiroshi?" he frowned.

"You _teme_. You better get your butt down here before I knock a hole through your wall and _drag you_."

"Why would I do that? And where exactly is 'down here'?" Had there been some sort of important concert Shuichi had asked him to go to today? He couldn't remember, but that would explain a lot. He ran his fingers through his hair. He really needed to do some more writing, but Shuichi's little overdone moments about him via concert from the past seemed enough to justify such a detour.

"You're such a baka. You still don't know? I should have figured. We're at the _hospital_."

"Mm-hmm…" he fought off a yawn as he fluttered his fingers over an email to his editor saying not to check in on him, because he'd have to comfort his partner while he waited for a wounded friend. "Who's sick? That third member of your little music group… um…" Lord above, what was the name? "Fujisaki?"

He only realized as he said it how naïve he'd sounded. He remembered Shuichi talking about Fujisaki Suguru only once, but he was struck by the clear memory of the singer's complaints on his new band member's _age_. That had probably been the child who'd called him. And why had Shuichi given his band members his cell phone rather than call him himself?

Interrupting Nakano mid exasperated sigh, he said, voice stone cold, "Which hospital?"

Hiro had never liked the way Yuki Eiri looked at Shuichi. Not specifically because it was unfeeling, or cold, or slightly annoyed, but because it was no different than the way he looked at anyone else. Hiroshi had no clue what had convinced Shuichi that the blonde writer had any real feelings for him, but it'd taken him a long time to be able to reassure himself that it wasn't just some alone time in the older man's bedroom and Shuichi's own will to see what he wanted to see that had left him so completely besotted. He comforted himself often with the time he'd been sure he'd seen it himself- when he'd gone to tell Yuki off for breaking Shuichi's heart and leaving him to be beaten and taken advantage of. Nothing really had changed in the man's expression or composure. He couldn't even say much had changed in his eyes. But he'd _felt _that murderous anger, coming off the blonde in waves. Pictures of exactly what the man would do to Shuichi's attacker had formed behind his eyes when Yuki asked him who had done it.

He couldn't feel that anger this time, when Yuki showed up. Maybe his own anger was blocking it out, or maybe there was just no one for Yuki Eiri to be mad at.

"Nice of you to show up," Hiro commented, voice harsh.

"Where is he?" the man's voice was unruffled, and Hiro was beginning to wonder whether he even cared his boyfriend was hurt.

Suguru jerked his thumb at the door they stood by. Yuki held the door open without waiting for a doctor to tell him it was okay. His eyes locked on the bed.

"What happened?" he asked.

"Car crash. K was taking him to lunch. Shuichi was begging for him to change directions, in his way, and effectively blocked K's sight. It was only for a few seconds, but…" Hiro trailed off. Eiri hadn't looked like he was going to interrupt. He didn't look like he was going to move a muscle any time soon, either. He was still staring into the room.

"What happened too him?" The question hadn't been changed by much, but Hiro knew what details he wanted.

"It was a pretty bad head injury. Could have been a lot worse, though- he wasn't wearing his seatbelt."

By the time Shuichi had gone home with Eiri, Eiri had already noticed something was off about him. He'd decided to let it slide, since of course, Shuichi couldn't be expected to be totally fine after coming home from the hospital after having his head busted open.

After a couple of weeks, Shuichi seemed almost normal again. He had a new problem with migraines, but most of the time, he was back to his hyperactive, overbearing self. Being only human, Eiri had developed a temporary extra bit of appreciativeness for his lover for the first month or so afterward. When it did wear off, it had been a very sudden change, and Shuichi was whiny about that difference for a couple of days before getting over it and regaining his former impeccable tolerance.

That's when the first real oddity happened. It was a concert to kick off Bad Luck's newest CD at the time, and one of Shuichi's headaches had snuck up on him.

"Seriously, guys, I'll be fine," he insisted, rubbing his forehead with the base of his palm as if he could push the pain right out. "You know my head hurts every now and then since the accident. It never amounts to anything."

Though Hiroshi didn't look all that convinced, Suguru was already getting in place, mumbling something supportive about "the show must go on."

Shuichi got in place last. To anyone watching, it looked like an artful, preplanned celebrity entrance, designed to get the loud cheers for the lead singer that immediately sounded upon his arrival. Bad Luck themselves were the only ones who knew it was just Shuichi trying to get rid of his headache before the show started. Nakano tried to keep his glances at the boy surreptitious, but he could see Shuichi was still rubbing his temples.

The roaring crowd wasn't helping Shuichi's headache. Not at all. The pink-haired boy ran his hands over his face once more, trying to keep his composure. He needed to focus on the song.

The music started. The first verse, Shuichi's voice rang loud, clear, and mesmerizing as ever. Hiro couldn't help but be relieved.

When he hit the chorus, Suguru and Hiroshi stumbled, almost stopping their playing completely. For a second, they thought he must have forgotten the words, then realized that he was singing them all, just in the wrong order. Since it was a newer song, and most of the crowd didn't know it, no one noticed but the two band mates.

Shuichi didn't seem to realize he'd messed anything up. He continued through the second verse, and Hiro had to struggle to keep focus on his playing when Shuichi switched two other lines. When he made it back to the chorus, once again, it was completely out of order, and was switching most of the words out for either complete opposites or things with absolutely no relation at all to what it had been originally.

It was on the third verse that Fujisaki and Nakano had to give up trying to follow him, because Shuichi had immediately gone completely off the tune of the song they'd rehearsed, into a _different_ one neither of them had heard before.

Shindou was so oblivious to his bandmates withdrawals from the song, the crowd still thought it was part of the show, a special, Aca pella finale to Bad Luck's new brilliant hit. They cheered louder than ever.

The boy didn't spend long on his new, impromptu rendition of their song. When he stopped, it wasn't like he was finished, it was like he'd been interrupted. The only music remaining were the cool, rhythmic beats and light background sounds Suguru's piano had been set playing on its own.

Bad Luck's audience decided that the lead singer wanted their approval to continue. Their cheers escalated. Shuichi massaged his temples, looking like he was curling in on himself. His lips were pressed together tightly. Hiro came up and put a hand on his shoulder, but Shuichi more or less slapped it away. Somehow, the crowd continued to get louder, and louder, and louder, till…

"Shut… _SHUT UP_!" Shuichi screamed at the top of his lungs.

"_Shuichi_?" Hiro gaped. Half the crowd was stunned into the same silence. The other thought this was a theatrical part of his vocals, and were still yelling.

"Can you not _hear?_" Shuichi yelled, though he himself seemed deaf to Hiroshi's voice at his side. "I said _SHUT _your freakin _POTHOLES!_"

Most of the room managed to take the hint this time, and those who still didn't get it were silenced by their friends. Shuichi had his fists to his temples. When Hiro put his hands on the boy's shoulders this time, Shuichi didn't fight him. Nakano spun him around and looked directly into his anguished eyes.

"Shuichi! Get a hold of yourself! What is _wrong?_"

The boy shook his head of pink hair helplessly.

"They won't! They won't shut up, Hiro! Why won't they all _leave me alone?_" tears were in his eyes. Frustrated, Hiro turned his gaze to the gaping Sakano who had came onstage a few moments ago, and the completely bewildered Suguru.

"Go call an ambulance you idiots! Shuichi, Shuichi, look at me. Who won't? Everyone's quiet here."

Shuichi continued to shake his head. "_They _won't! Why can't any of you just listen for once? They crashed K's car, and hurt my head, and they haven't stopped following me since!" Very suddenly, Shuichi gripped Nakano's shirt, so hard he thanked the lord the boy hadn't caught hold of any skin.

"They're going to hurt me! I know it. That's all they talk about. And Yuki. And you. They're going to hurt me, and Yuki, and you, but they're going to hurt you and Yuki first because I'm the one they want to see suffer. They keep telling me… they keep telling me…"

"Shuichi, you need to _calm down_," Hiro tried to soothe him. He certainly didn't expect the punch against his jaw Shuichi landed. Or when he managed to refocus his gaze, he didn't expect Shuichi to tackle him, or look down at him with that murderous glint in his eyes.

Yuki sat on the other side of the bed from Sakano. Shuichi lay between them, staring at the ceiling with a focus one would give a difficult word search.

"Have they figured out what's wrong with him?" Yuki's voice was subdued, but that was more than most people could read off of him on a good day.

"Not in specific terms no."

"Specific terms meaning, terms that can be treated with no worries."

Sakano eyed the blonde. Usually no one would dare look at Yuki like that, but even with his composure, it was impossible not to notice the golden eyes were unable to stay off of Shuichi for long.

"Yes… I suppose you could say that," he said. "But we are going to try him on some medication. Until then, we just have to try and keep him comfortable and willing to do as we say. Which so far as proved a complication."

"Why?"

Sakano gestured to the boy in between them. "He's been unresponsive like that since the show."

"Did he say anything he wanted?" Eiri asked.

"To talk to you," Sakano said promptly. The man blinked in surprise. Then why was he still in here?

"We just have to let you know how severe Nakano's injuries are," Sakano didn't sound like he wanted to continue, but he managed to say, "We're… we can't say we're sure beyond a doubt that Shuichi wasn't… trying to _kill _him."

"I'm sure I can handle Shuichi if he gets agitated," Eiri said, unmoved. He didn't believe Shuichi would attack him for anything, no matter what Sakano was implying. And as for the attempted murder theory… well, he couldn't quite condemn his lover for that, being who he was himself, could he?

Sakano hesitated, then nodded and stood to go. "If you need anything, just page us."

Yuki nodded.

As soon as the door shut, Shuichi's eyes fluttered, and he was suddenly sitting up.

"Yuki!" he grinned, hugging the man around the neck. This natural reaction would have been reassuring, even cute, if it hadn't directly followed the boy's dead to the world meditation. It struck Yuki how the boy was acting as if he'd _just now _entered the room.

"Yes…" he swallowed, annoyed that his throat was so unbelievably dry at a time like this. "They said…they said you wanted to talk to me."

Shuichi's blue eyes widened for a moment, like he didn't know what the blonde meant, then his face abruptly sobered up.

"Oh… right. See, the thing is…" he bit his lip, looked around, then whispered, low as was probably possible for him, "They took Hiro."

Yuki kept his expression much the same, and the boy immediately launched into his own way of describing the incident he'd already heard about over and over, and watched scenes of a million times over the television.

_I was singing the song perfectly. Or at least well- I was singing the song, okay? I won't let it go to my head. But it seemed every verse or so, Fujisaki and Hiro would mess up. I wasn't going to let any of the fans see _that _though (_laugh_) so I kept it up. But then I realized, Yuki, they were there- they were hiding in the audience. They were screaming, they were telling me things they'd wanted me to do, but I'd never done. I kept singing, because no one noticed them, but they kept getting louder, and they were telling me what they were going to do to you, and to Hiro, and my head was hurting so much. I decided to improv on the last verse- cause you know that song I've sometimes sang around the house? Yeah, I figured out that song usually gets rid of them. But it wasn't working this time. They kept getting louder, and louder, they wouldn't stop. Hiro came up and I tried to tell him what was happening, because you know, he's known about this as long as you have. (_Yuki tries to look like yes, he remembers being told about this Them before_) But he just kept trying to get me to calm down, get a grip… and I looked in his eyes, and he _wasn't _there Yuki. They'd taken him. They had him. I had to kill them, Yuki. I couldn't let them hurt him._

Eiri swallowed hard as Shuichi reached the end of his story.

_I had to kill them, Yuki._

Yuki had to remind himself to breathe.

"You believe me, right, Yuki?" Shuichi's blue eyes bore into his own golden ones. For once, the look didn't seem flighty and adorable.

Yuki felt his hand twitching toward the button on the wall to summon the nurse. He'd never felt afraid in Shuichi's presence before.

_I had to kill them, Yuki._

"Yes… yes, of course I believe you…" Yuki himself didn't even find his half choked words convincing, but Shuichi was now beaming, a heart melting smile that Yuki wished, just wished he could still find so innocently cute, no matter how often he'd fought that thought.

"Thank God."

"But you need to rest, Shuichi, and I have to go for a while… I'll be back for you… do what the doctors say, okay?" he didn't like feeling afraid of this boy. He knew he should probably stay longer, the doctors would want more information than he could give them. "They may not understand, but they… they're not going to hurt you or anything."

Shuichi cocked his head to once side.

"But wait, Yuki!" he said, after a second, when Yuki pressed the button, and he seemed to realize what the man had said. Shuichi grabbed Yuki's arm, and the grip was so hard Yuki almost gasped. Almost. How had he never known Shuichi had muscles like that?

_I had to kill them, Yuki._

"Shuichi…" Yuki tried to keep his voice level, calm, so as not to alert the boy to his discomfort. "You're squeezing… to hard… my arm…"

Shuichi's grip didn't lighten up in the slightest.

"But you _do _see, don't you, Yuki? Now _you _have to do it! They made me let him go before I could. I know you can, you'll probably do better than I did."

Yuki could barely feel his hand. What did he want done?

_I had to kill them, Yuki._

_I had to kill them. _

"Shuichi, I…"

"You _have to_, Yuki! I know you and Hiro have had your differences, but he's my best friend! And they're after you too. If you don't do it, they're going to get to you, too, and I won't be able to finish them off without him."

"I… I'll try my best," Yuki said.

Shuichi smiled brightly, and his grip was gone.

A nurse stuck her head in.

"Is there a problem in here?"

Yuki was about to tell her that no, there wasn't, he just needed to talk to someone, and she should watch over the patient, when very suddenly, he noticed Shuichi's eyes had gone completely blank. The boy started shaking. Violently.

Yuki was shoved from the room before Shuichi had stopped seizing.

Yuki threw himself against the room. He was sure it was the right one, but it took much too long for him to open the door.

When he entered, Nakano was curled on his side. It was only when he got closer that he saw the bruises. The wounds.

When he sat beside the bed, at first the man didn't seem to see him. Then, out of nowhere, he said-

"I'm guessing you've talked to him?"

"Yeah…"

"How'd it go?"

Yuki shook his head. He wasn't going to think about it. Certainly not about the end. Not about the shaking.

Nakano was silent for a few more minutes.

"You still love him though, right?"

Eiri looked directly at him now. Hiroshi didn't return the favor.

"Yes."

The redhead managed to sit up, with some effort.

"Then I'm coming to live with you."

Apparently, Eiri had missed something.

"What?"

"When they figure out something close to the correct dosage of whatever medicine they find, and Shuichi starts to seem better, they're going to send him home with you. I'm going to live with you. It's the only way. I…" his eyes finally drifted to Yuki's. "We have to get him back."

Eiri didn't have to ask what he meant by that. He thought of that Shuichi he'd seen in there for those precious first seconds, who'd gotten overexcited at his presence and hugged him like they were the only two in the universe. He didn't compare it to the last moment he'd seen him. He didn't have to.

"I don't see how that means you moving into my house."

"You're going to be busy. You can't work as much as you usually do and watch over him properly. You can't watch him all the time and expect to get enough of your work done to get by."

"So, you want to be his nanny."

"In a sense. You can't keep him on your own."

They looked at each other for a moment. The look wasn't friendly… but it was enough.

"Deal?"

"…Yeah. Sure."

They shook hands.

**Yeah… okay, I think I got carried away. You can tell me if it was too dramatic, or if Yuki was OOC. I think I saw that in it myself. Conversely, I would LOVE it if you reviewed and told me you enjoyed it. And I would write more Gravitation. So… win-win for everyone! (Throws cookies in the air for reviewers)**


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